Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Latest Book


I decided to go with a new author - well to me he is new - Jonathan Kellerman and one of his really old books (from 1989) Silent Partner. This book came to me via a very dear friend in a box of wonderful treasures back in December and I found it again when we were moving the room around. So far I am on page 88 and I have been trying to read this book for a disgraceful amount of time - I guess I have to be more diligent with my free time in order to accomplish it on time.

Update Over Dinner ...

Hi Everyone ... I hope everyone's Memorial weekend went well. We finally got some much needed rest. The weekend before we got done with the flooring!! Aahhhh!!! I am sooo excited. EVERYTHING is looking so great ... I can't wait to show you and as soon as I can remember where I put the cords then I can upload the pictures. :) I have been snapping away (when I can remember) because NOBODY is going to believe the difference.

Things that have been done so far:
build wall (frame/drywall/mud)
primer/paint the walls & ceiling
installed new floors
installed new island
installed new counters
primer/paint cabinets & hardware
installed new sink & faucet
installed new dishwasher
installed new garbage disposal
installed new blinds
Things that still need to be done:
tile backsplash (I know ... should have done that already)
 baseboards
 trim around doors/windows
 shelf units in den
shelf units around fireplace
build desk in kitchen
finishing decorating touches
And when ALLLLLL that gets done we will tackle the guest bathroom and update that. THEN go back into the guest room to put down new floors and touch up the walls where it is scuffed up. THEN go into the craft room to repaint the shelves & beadboard, touch up the walls and put down quarter round to hold the new floors. THEN do the master bedroom/bathroom and by that time I will be about 175 years old and I can finally sit down and enjoy my beautiful home. PHEW!! But we are loooooving every moment (well most moments). We work so well together that it doesn't seem intrusive into 'our' time ... it seems more like a creative hobby we do together. And we get a kick telling people how WE did things ourselves. Well I am done eating dinner and tonight we are prepping the kitchen walls for tiling. Talk soon.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Camping!

This weekend we are hitching the 'ol RV and going camping! I loooooove my RV ~ Mr and I are not the backpacking roughing the wild kinda people.... we are more the let's go for a hike, then sit outside under the stars and sleep indoors in a bed kinda  people. We haven't really used our RV too often but 'this is the year that we will try to go out ATLEAST once a month' ... yea - well it is good to have goals. One of our favorite places to go is Dead Horse Ranch State Park ~ I know the name is terrible ~ we have been there for day trips ... it is about 10* cooler and only 1 1/2 hrs to get there so doing a quick weekend excursion should be easy ... right? On our last day trip we drove the whole park checking out which spots will be good for us ... not too close to the bathrooms/showers, a mountain view would be nice, easy to pull in/out of and away from the crowds (this isn't Havasu so there is no party scene ... mostly families). So we reserved our spot and now the prepping begins.

 First thing first is ourselves ... clothes, bug repellent and food are at the top of the list. Shorts with tons of pockets, Ts and new shoes. We went to two stores before I found them in the least likely place. We went into a sporting goods store ... which I did find a plethora of women hiking shoes starting in the high $80s (they were on sale) but most were made of leather (I guess for long term wearability) .... and EVERRRYBOOOODY knows my stance on leather. The next store was just a regular shoe store and they didn't have women's hiking books ~ just guys ... hmmm weird right? But I did find a cute wedge but I didn't get them. *sadness* So we decided to go shopping at Walmart (shhhhh don't tell anyone) and pick up food and clothes. We walked thru the shoe section just in the off-chance that we could find something. And we did .. Mr found some boots for him for $25 (they were on sale) and again no women hiking boots. By now I have decided to buy guy boots but all the 'cuter' ones were made of leather but I spotted a pair that are man made, so I grabbed a pair and started to try them on. While I was on the ground trying on boys boots it gave me horrible flashbacks as to when I was a kid always having to get boys tennis shoes because my feet are wide and the girls shoes wouldn't fit right. *tears* And when I was walking around determining the fit I found them ... women's hiking boots!!!! They were on the side of the isle and were on sale for ...... drum roll please ..... $10!! No kidding! I mean they might not last forever but I am a novice hiker, I don't know what to look for in a good pair of boots. So I snagged them the only problem with them is that they are not attractive ... not even a little. They look like boys black high top tennis shoes. *gross* I will let you know if they are worth the price. With a quick pickup of new socks, Ts and baggy shorts (for hiking you don't want shorts that can split on you). We are off to get bug spray.

I have found some interesting natural bug spray recipes on-line but some take a week for the items to cure (but I will let you know how it goes) so Mr just plopped in the basket a bottle of 'Off' ... to my horror ... but he isn't as concern about the DEET as I am but more concerned about not getting bit up by mosquitos and here in Phoenix the mosquitos carry the West Nile virus. So until I give him an alternative ... I gave him his spray. Compromise .. that is what marriage is all about. It is the new clean feel and it has a decent enough scent.

Last was food, we do like our 'road trip' food ... chips, chips and crackers .... mostly starchy items since my Prince and I get car sick ... ICK!! This time we chose pretzels and a black bean chip to eat with sandwiches.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Blanket Completed!


I am FINALLY finished this wonderful project. I have been crocheting for almost 25 years and this blanket is my true test of my talent ... not to mention my patience. I was having issues figuring out the patterns ... they are crazy confusing but once I understood what on Earth I was reading .... everything just started to move much faster. Go figure :p The one thing I like about working with repeating patterns like these is that you can see right away when something is done wrong (added a stitch or a skipped stitch) What I wanted to do today was put up some YouTube links *thank you BonnieBayCrochet* that have helped me tremendously and I hope they will do the same for you.


The 'Arrow Pattern Stitch' is used through out the blanket.

The 'Popcorn Stitch'  ... there are two varieties used in the blanket.

The 'Diamond Stitch Pattern'  I think it is the easiest and it looks really nice.

Now ... what to make next?

Patterson ... Read and Done!


In the month of April I was reading 'Swimsuit' by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. And can I say I LoOoVeD IT!!!! A co-worker's wife knows I like - ok ... LOVE Patterson - and she highly recommended reading this one. The front of the cover  reads "The scariest and most satisfying James Patterson novel since 'Kiss The Girls'" And WOW they were not lying!  Now I usually don't like Patterson collaborated books and as we know from this review I didn't care for the last Patterson/Paetro book I read (from the Women's  Murder Club series) but Swimsuit grabbed me and kept me until the end.  I don't want to spoil anything thing but I will say that through out the whole book I was like 'no way' ... 'NOOOO way' ... 'NO WAY!' ... I was even telling Mr the story as if he was as intrigued as I was (PS he wasn't but he is a very good listener) The end to me seemed open ended but that just means there is space for a sequel ... right ;p  It reads a bit like the any other Cross books by showing both the killer (or should I say ... a serial killer - Henri Benoit) and the pursuant (in this case ex-cop turned LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins) and I enjoy that. I see the story like a movie when it shows what the killer is doing and thinking, rather than just what the cop sees. I would LOOOOOOVE it if this book got turned into a movie ... it would be so AWESOME!!! Maybe I need to give the Women's Murder Club series one more chance ... mayyybeee  =D

Now what to read next .... I am either thinking Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath or Kiss the Girls by James Patterson. I started to read Patterson years ago but since I own it on hard back it makes it a bit harder to carry it everywhere ... and I do carry (and read) my books evvverrrrywhere.  Decisions ... decisions *sigh*

PS I am still gathering information for the 'Little House' books review ... I haven't forgotten - I just haven't had the time to do it.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

I LoOoVe Painting!

LUKE: Painting’s a pain. I’d have to close the place for a day, which I can’t afford, or paint it in the middle of the night which I don’t want to because I hate painting.

LORELAI: Ok, how about this? I’ll help you because I love to paint.

LUKE: You do?

LORELAI: Yes I do.

LUKE: You love it?

LORELAI: I want to marry it.

LUKE: You have strange passions.

RORY: She likes washing dishes too. She’s multifaceted abnormal.

LORELAI: Ah come on, we’ll drink a couple of beers and we’ll sing some painting songs.

LUKE: Painting songs?

LORELAI: Yeah painting songs like, um…you know the songs that goes, um…’Grab your brush and grab your rollers, all you kids and all you bowlers, we’re going paintin’ today’. Say yes or there’s another verse.

LUKE: Well I guess maybe if…I had help.

***************************************************************************

RORY: Where are you going?

LORELAI: To Luke's. We're picking out paint colors tonight so it's going to be hours of "yes," "no," "yes," "no," "yes," "no," until my world-famous perseverance wears him down and he winds up in a ball on the floor crying like a girl. Wanna come watch?